Gros Romane, Rodriguez-Nunez Omar, Felger Leonard, Moriconi Stefano, McKinley Richard, Pierangelo Angelo, Novikova Tatiana, Vassella Erik, Schucht Philippe, Hewer Ekkehard, Maragkou Theoni
IEEE Trans Med Imaging. 2024 Dec;43(12):4120-4132. doi: 10.1109/TMI.2024.3413288. Epub 2024 Dec 2.
Neuro-oncological surgery is the primary brain cancer treatment, yet it faces challenges with gliomas due to their invasiveness and the need to preserve neurological function. Hence, radical resection is often unfeasible, highlighting the importance of precise tumor margin delineation to prevent neurological deficits and improve prognosis. Imaging Mueller polarimetry, an effective modality in various organ tissues, seems a promising approach for tumor delineation in neurosurgery. To further assess its use, we characterized the polarimetric properties by analysing 45 polarimetric measurements of 27 fresh brain tumor samples, including different tumor types with a strong focus on gliomas. Our study integrates a wide-field imaging Mueller polarimetric system and a novel neuropathology protocol, correlating polarimetric and histological data for accurate tissue identification. An image processing pipeline facilitated the alignment and overlay of polarimetric images and histological masks. Variations in depolarization values were observed for grey and white matter of brain tumor tissue, while differences in linear retardance were seen only within white matter of brain tumor tissue. Notably, we identified pronounced optical axis azimuth randomization within tumor regions. This study lays the foundation for machine learning-based brain tumor segmentation algorithms using polarimetric data, facilitating intraoperative diagnosis and decision making.
神经肿瘤外科手术是原发性脑癌的主要治疗方法，但由于胶质瘤具有侵袭性且需要保留神经功能，该手术面临挑战。因此，根治性切除往往不可行，这凸显了精确勾勒肿瘤边缘以预防神经功能缺损和改善预后的重要性。成像穆勒偏振测量法是一种在各种器官组织中有效的方法，似乎是神经外科手术中肿瘤勾勒的一种有前景的方法。为了进一步评估其用途，我们通过分析27个新鲜脑肿瘤样本的45次偏振测量来表征偏振特性，这些样本包括不同的肿瘤类型，重点是胶质瘤。我们的研究整合了一个宽场成像穆勒偏振测量系统和一种新颖的神经病理学方案，将偏振数据与组织学数据相关联以进行准确的组织识别。一个图像处理管道促进了偏振图像和组织学掩码的对齐与叠加。在脑肿瘤组织的灰质和白质中观察到去偏振值的变化，而仅在脑肿瘤组织的白质中观察到线性延迟的差异。值得注意的是，我们在肿瘤区域内发现了明显的光轴方位随机化。这项研究为使用偏振数据的基于机器学习的脑肿瘤分割算法奠定了基础，有助于术中诊断和决策。
